Syrian Rebels Launch Offensive to Break Siege of Aleppo

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Syrian government forces near the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday. The city, once the most populous in the country, has been the site of some of the heaviest fighting in the nearly six-year civil war.CreditCreditGeorge Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A coalition of Syrian insurgent groups said it had begun a major offensive on Friday to break the monthslong siege of eastern parts of Aleppo by government and Russian forces, and at least 15 people were reportedly killed in fighting in government-controlled parts of the city.

The new offensive was a strong sign that rebel groups vetted by the United States were continuing their tactical alliances with groups linked to Al Qaeda, rather than distancing themselves as Russia has demanded and the Americans have urged.

Russia has reserved the right to attack anyone working with the Qaeda-linked groups, saying there is little distinction between them. The rebels argue that they cannot afford to shun any potential allies while they are under fire, including well-armed and motivated jihadists, without more robust aid from their international backers.

Aleppo, once the most populous city in Syria, has been the site of some of the heaviest fighting in the nearly six-year civil war. President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces, backed by Russian firepower, have surrounded rebels who are holed up in the eastern quarters of the city and have held the area in a siege since July.

Eastern Aleppo is also home to at least 250,000 people, who live under increasingly desperate conditions. As many as 1.5 million live in the government-controlled western part of the city.

The insurgents have a diverse range of objectives and backers, but they issued statements of unity on Friday. Those taking part in the offensive include the Levant Conquest Front, a militant group formerly known as the Nusra Front that grew out of Al Qaeda; another hard-line Islamist faction, Ahrar al-Sham; and other rebel factions fighting Mr. Assad that have been vetted by the United States and its allies.

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A rebel fighter carried mortar shells in western Aleppo on Friday.CreditAmmar Abdullah/Reuters

In addition to the 15 fatalities, 100 people were wounded by shells fired by the rebels at government-controlled neighborhoods, largely in western Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain.

A military airport to the east of Aleppo was attacked, as was a government position to the west of the city, the rebels said.

The insurgent advances southwest of Aleppo are crucial because the area includes a supply route that the government seized in July. The rebels took it back in August, only to lose it again. They had promised recently that they would mount another counterattack.

Eleven of the roughly 20 rebel groups conducting the offensive have been vetted by the C.I.A. and have received arms from the agency, including anti-tank missiles, said Charles Lister, a senior fellow and Syria specialist at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

A spokesman for the C.I.A. declined to comment on any armed assistance to the rebels, which, although it has been well publicized, is also still technically a covert program.

Mr. Lister and other analysts said the vast majority of the American-vetted rebel factions in Aleppo were fighting inside the city itself and conducting significant bombardments against Syrian government troops in support of the Qaeda-affiliated fighters carrying out the brunt of front-line fighting.

“The unfortunate truth, however, is that these U.S.-backed groups remain somewhat dependent upon the Al Qaeda linked groups for organization and firepower in these operations,” said Genevieve Casagrande, a Syria research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.

In addition to arms provided by the United States, much of the rebels’ weaponry comes from regional states, like Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Mr. Lister said, including truck-borne multiple-rocket launcher systems and Czech-made Grad rockets with extended ranges.

The fighting follows a weeklong lull during which Russia unilaterally declared a cease-fire and issued a widely ignored call for civilians and rebels to leave the eastern districts of Aleppo through humanitarian corridors, as warplanes dropped leaflets warning that anyone who stayed could be killed.

The government and its allies accused the rebels of forcing Aleppo residents to stay, and of using them as human shields. Rebel groups rejected that charge, saying the corridor was not safe without United Nations guarantees, and they refused to agree to evacuations unless humanitarian aid was also delivered to the besieged areas.

The United Nations and the Red Cross sought to arrange aid deliveries and medical evacuations, and officials expressed frustration that the government and the rebels could not come to an agreement.

The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, met with Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran in Moscow on Friday to discuss conditions for suspending hostilities.

Mr. Moallem said in Moscow that government forces could agree to another “humanitarian pause” in hostilities, but only in exchange for a pledge from the rebels that civilians would be allowed to leave the city.

“We are ready to again repeat this attempt after we receive guarantees that confirm that the countries supporting these terrorist organizations are prepared to act so that civilians could use the cease-fire,” Mr. Moallem said.

Mr. Kerry has continued to reach out to Syrian rebel groups. A State Department spokesman, John Kirby, reiterated on Thursday the United States’ longstanding criticisms of Russia, saying that Moscow was pursuing a self-defeating strategy.

“If that’s their intention, to reduce Aleppo to rubble,” he said, “then they will do nothing more than encourage the opposition to keep fighting, make a cessation of hostilities all the more elusive if not impossible, and bolster the rise of extremism in Aleppo as well as prolong a war that should not be.”

He continued, “You would hope that the Russians would see that’s clearly not in their interest.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: Coalition of Syrian Rebels Launches Offensive to Break Siege of Aleppo. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe